The Take Off, The Kick, and The Landing
The Take Off: How to set-up, and the steps to efficiently jump to perform the 540 hook
Steps into the take-off (LEGS):
Similar to the 360 Round Kick, or 540 round kick, one is to perform the take-off by first facing the target, assuming your hook kicking leg is your left leg
Take a step with your right leg across to your left side turning your entire body 180 degrees away from the target
At this position, your weight is shifted onto your right leg (Loaded and ready to jump)
Bring your left leg, and upper torso around and face the target again.
As your hip opens up, helping you face the target, your left knee should be driving up toward the sky, this is not a tuck like in a back flip, it is an upward knee drive helping you get upward momentum for your take off.
Creating momentum with your arms (ARM SWING):
Firstly, the arm swing for the 540 Hook Kick is a big “U” shape, starting with your hands up over your head, swing them down then back up again when performing the jump.
The arm swing helps to increase height by generating momentum upwards
This also helps with turning the upper body towards the target to set the athlete up for the kick.
Timing of the arm swing:
Beginning with the arms above head level
As you step over facing away from the target, the arms should start to swing downwards
The weight of the body should be shifted onto the right leg.
Once the arms reach the bottom of the arm swing, the athlete should be at the point before they start turning their head and chest towards the target once again, spotting the target.
As your hips open up, turning the left knee towards the target, at the same time driving that knee up towards the sky generating upward momentum for the jump, the athlete should be timing their arms swing upwards at the same time as they drive their left knee up, to maximize the momentum they can generate together before they jump.
Spin after the jump, facing away from the target (180 degrees spin):
As you jump after your knee drive upwards, hips open towards the left (left leg hook), and arms pull at the shoulders for extra upward momentum.
You want to then keep your whole body upright and in a straight line, arms kept close to your body to reduce the moment of inertia and increase the velocity of the spin.
Keeping the hooking leg in front of you, and landing leg behind you as you spin
as you complete a 180-degree spin in the air resulting in you facing the complete opposite direction of where your target would be, looking to land in this position with your non-kicking leg.
The Kick: How to perform the 540 hook with a strong kick with minimal twist in the air:
As you are in this position, spotting (looking for the target) for the target is the next most important thing, once you have spotted your target
With the hooking leg in front of you already chambered, you will perform the kick by kicking the hooking leg backward, and landing leg forward to catch you for the landing.
The kicking action will result in an arabesque-like landing.
The Landing: How to land the kick safely and efficiently:
The landing of the 540 hook, or cheat 720 is pretty simple, but it is difficult when you want to perform the kick before you land, hence we would recommend learning how to land properly before performing a flashy hook kick before landing.
After “The take-off” you want to land with your non-kicking leg, with the toes pointed away from the target, and as you land, you would perform the chamber for the reverse hook with your kicking leg.
Then kick the target behind you, and follow through the kick with the glutes, rotating your upper body to start facing the target and putting the kicking foot down under you to have a sturdy footing to continue into a combo.
How to build strength and coordination to perform an aesthetically pleasing kick.
Single leg squats: this exercise helps build strength and stability in the legs, specifically for the hips, the knees, and the ankles, (glutes, quads, and calves) because the 540 hook heavily depends on the non-kicking leg for power, strength, and stabilization, which means that there is a higher chance of resulting in injury, due to the intense efforts on that one leg, being able to strength and build muscle endurance would be a good proactive action to take to protect the joints in the leg.
Side Lying hip circles: this exercise helps train strength and control of the muscles around the hips, drawing the circles with the hips by first starting with the legs rested, then forwards -> up -> back -> Down, to replicate how you would use your side abdominal muscles and glutes to pull the leg up to chamber at the side, and pulling the leg back with the glutes for the kick. This exercise help increase the range of motion of the hips and also strengthens the muscles around the hip, and give athlete more control and awareness of the position of the legs in order to perform the 540 hook better in the future.
Side Crunches: The side crunch is a good exercise to train the side of the abdominal muscles which we use during the 540 hook to chamber our legs to the side in order to perform the reverse hook kick at the end, this exercise also strengthens overall core strength which is needed for all tricks in tricking hence it would be a good benefit to performing this exercise once in a while.